What an
extraordinary day.. no really!! Here I am locked up in a Philippolis Jail
that was used in the early 1900s and is now used as a B&B. I am in one
of the cells once used by inmates and costing me just ZAR200 - about Au$35
(which includes shower, fridge, toilets, tea and coffee etc...) and the
opportunity to get scared out of my pants as Richard Proctor-Sims from Oom
Japies se Huis has just informed me that this place in haunted. Guess
what! I am the only inmate - it is getting dark and a thunderstorm has just
passed over...

Image right: Scott standing in the 200 year-old
ruins of a Griqua house.

Let's get back to this day.

Up at 7am and happy to be out of Bloemfontein which I found to be rather
depressing. I was winding my way down to Philippolis when a sign caught my
eyes - De Oude Kraal.. (The old kraal -
website at this
link). Intrigued I followed the sign and found myself on a dusty
road just north of the Tigerpoort River. I had gone a few k's when I thought
to myself "What the hell am I doing?" - and then I saw it. Like an oasis
in the desert.

De Oude Kraal
Country Estate (seen right) has been in the same family for well over 100
years and the Lombards have transformed their 2,500 hectare property into
a natural museum and beautifully maintained house and garden. I am staying
here next time I come... same price as Bayswater at Bloem but the value is
chasms apart! De Oude Kraal was originally known as Wilhelmshohe and was
part of the farm Bruidegomspruit which belonged to the Griqua. Legend has
it that Adam Kok III gave the farm to Johannes Witvoet as a wedding present
- thus the name which means Bridegroom's Creek.

In 1885 a missionary by the name of Salzmann bought the farm from Witvoet
for six thousand pounds.

Mr Lombard has an extensive tie collection which now line the walls around
the bar and his good wife soon took me aside when she heard of my interest
in the Griqua. She showed me the original land title (images below) to her
family farm - purchased in the 1800s from the daughter of Abraham Kok, Adam
Kok IIIs brother. While doing this guests came and checked out all expressing
immense satisfaction....

But more was to come! Basil - the farm manager, after catching a Peacock,
took me out on the farm to an original kraal built by the Griquas in the
1820s - and nearby were the foundations of their dwellings! (Images below).

Basil then
took me to one of only three large eight-sided forts built by the British
during the Boer War. I was able to climb the fort and peer in... it is an
amazing relic in near perfect condition.

After two happily distracted hours, at about 11am, I drove on to Philippolis.

I checked into the Old Philippolis Jail (where I am still waiting for the
ghosts to appear) and then set out to explore this fascinating piece of Griqua
history at Philippolis. While trying to find the Griqua location of
Bergmanshoogte I found myself in a very native location but never felt
threatened.

One of the locals told me how to find the new Griqua settlement of Bergmanshoogte, a legacy of Apartheid, just a few kilometres out of Philippolis. Soon
I was sitting down with Ms Wedican the female chief of the Griqua here -
who knows Alan le Fleur very well. I presented her community with six copies
of "Children of the Mist" and was then taken to meet the community's
oldest inhabitant Wilim Adam who turned 102 on the 10th October. It so happened
all his offspring had organised this afternoon as their get together celebration
so I was in the unique position to capture several generations of authentic
Griqua lineage! (Images below). Willim was the man in the SATV 1960s documentary
on the Griqua who relates the humorous story of the person speeding on his
bike and coming into contact with a cow... the heat of his bike bar-b-quing
the meat! You can see the video clip
with Wilim at this link!(Beware 8.5mByte download)

It was now
late afternoon and I drove to the cemetery where the contrast between the
traditional unmarked cairn of stones by the Griqua and the elaborate headstone
of the Afrikaners lay side by side...

At 5pm I drove down to Oom Japie se Huis and met with Richard Proctor-Sims
who took a box of 24 books for his book shop before taking me through the
Nederlandse Gereformeerde Kerk - which had once been the Griqua church and
still is a sore as the Griqua's never were paid for this asset after they
were turfed out of this small town by the Boers in the late 1850s. I have
to tell you Richard is an interesting character and if travelling through
Philippolis stop off at his shop just metres from the large Church.

The church has one of the finest organs in the world - and any organ player
can use it... by simply asking! The Church's Bible is the most fascinating
artifact. It was donated to the Church by a Boer woman, R I Grobbelaar, in
1887 and was then stolen by a British Officer on the 10th August 1901 (during
the Boer war). The British actually occupied this church as barracks for
nearly a year. The book turned up in an antiquarian book store and the store
owner, realising its importance, asked Queen Elizabeth for direction. The
Queen requested that the book be returned to Philippolis and so it was EXACTLY
100 years, to the day, after it was stolen.